Beyond Heroes: Wildemount | Episode 15: The Mawl

“We’re in the world of Mall, and they said we are Trick or Treaters! Which means we get to trick, and then we get treats! I can’t believe how great this place is!”

— Penelope

 

Watch Beyond Heroes: Wildemount | Episode 15: The Mawl

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The cast of Beyond Heroes, Penelope is level 12 while the rest are level 11:

Full Summary

It’s the next morning in the safe house, and Alyndra wakes up to a sending from her mother. Sofieus apologizes that things got out of hand with the butter creature, and admonishes her for not calling more often. Penelope is also awoken by a familiar voice, and finds a grandfather clock has appeared in the safe house that was not there before. As the shadows darken, the Traveler appears and asks for her help. He’s taken a slightly different form than normal, with a more ostentatious mane of blonde hair. There’s another world that requires the Heroes help, and promises he can teleport them there and back without issues. She agrees to take the mission, and heads to find her friends to ask to join the adventure.

In the main room of the safehouse, Orkira has asked for Alyndra’s help in dedicating a space to the Phoenix. She wants to use word of recall to designate a location that she can then transport the group to if they encounter danger and need to flee, however she needs the spot to be a sanctuary to her God. The cleric only knows of the cathedral in the elemental plane of fire, and figured her friends wouldn’t want to be teleported there, but she’s having difficulty figuring out how to sanctify a space. Alyndra is happy to help, using her devotion to Oghma as a basis to draw on how to go about such a task. Orkira is happy to offer lots of fire to start burning patterns into the floor and walls. Briv offers his spit as holy water, but retracts the offer when he thinks his fluids will simply be burned away.

The ceremony is interrupted as the grandfather clock suddenly chimes and the Traveler appears to everyone, still in the same flamboyant outfit from Penelope’s vision. The halfling is excited to introduce the Traveler to her friends, and support him as he requests they all go on a mission to a new realm. The eight days they have spent in Wildemount have not been kind to the group so they are all willing to entertain a change of location, however the Traveler is incredibly vague about the name of the plane they will be transported to or exactly what task they must complete. Briv, Alyndra, and Orkira are suspicious of the lack of details, but Penelope is impressed by how mysterious and tricksy her patron is, and runs to the roof to gather Keen so he can join the adventure.

The eladrin has been in meditation on the roof of the safe house for a while, communing with the Feywild and the Eternal Court seeking guidance. All he has received is a warning about an entity among the group that they are concerned about. When he hears Penelope calling out, he gracefully leaps off the roof to ask for details. She fills him in on the little they know and invites him inside to see the Traveler in his new form. Keen recognizes this as some sort of fey creature. This powerful friend doesn’t want to call himself a God, though he admits others do, he prefers to be referred to as a King though won’t detail his domain. Several creatures have escaped to this other realm he wants to send them too, and he needs the Heroes to take care of the problem. Alyndra asks for additional information so they can be more effective, and the being says the only information they need to know is that failure to help means that Penelope will belong to him forever.

Everyone is upset by the idea of this creature claiming ownership of Penelope, and the lack of details in what they are being asked to do. Penelope seems fine with agreeing to help as that is what they all do, but when the others protest at how nefarious all of this is sounding, the Traveler snaps his fingers and the druid disappears into a flock of doves! Orkira is upset at this threat, and demands to know specifics about their mission and assurances that Penelope is going to be alright. The Traveler admonishes her for being so untrusting, and with another snap the cleric disappears into a group of tiny dragons. Resigned to being controlled by this creature, Keen asks to join his friend and is transported in a gust of autumn leaves. When the fey creature addresses Alyndra by her full name she is unsurprised to learn that he knows her parents, and she is transformed into a swarm of miniature owls that look like her familiar, Griff. Left alone with the Traveler, Briv tries one last time to find out what kind of trouble they need to resolve, and the fey replies that the trouble is called “1984” before snapping his fingers one last time and sending Briv to join his friends.

On the upper deck of a shopping mall, all five Heroes awaken on the cold tile floor outside of a movie theater. Penelope is immediately drawn to a picture advertising the movie “Labyrinth” as she recognizes one of the figures is the Traveler. A kind old lady compliments the halfling on her Halloween costume, asking if she’s with the other trick-or-treaters at the Mall. Another young man examines Orkira in fascination, asking if she’s from the Dragonslayer, or another movie set like the Alien or Predator. The dragonborn doesn’t understand what he’s talking about, but thinks the Predator must be the creature they’ve been sent to fight. The young man mentions that someone is in a very cool Predator costume on the lower level of the Mall, in the arcade called the Dungeon. This prompts Orkira to call out that she’ll scout ahead, and unfolding her wings she flies downstairs to the shock and surprise of most of the Mall patrons. Landing outside the video game arcade her senses are assaulted by flashing lights, deafening noises, and the smell of sugar and sweat. She calls out to her friends that she’s found some strange warforged, and Briv and Penelope head down to join her.

Meanwhile Keen has become entranced with the food and entertainment options, quickly consuming several hot dogs while watching displays of several famous commanders leading armies as they prep for battle. He is impressed with the energy and dedication of Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda, and buzzing with energy from all the sugar he is consuming he begins to follow along with the dance routines. Alyndra has become distracted by a bookstore, and wandered inside to speed read as much as she can to learn about this new world and emerging some time later with a massive stack of books and a much larger understanding of the pop culture of the Mall.

Briv attempts to head downstairs but is stopped and freaked out by the escalator moving up towards him. Pulling his great sword he quickly destroys the magical moving staircase, smiting it into pieces and a shower of sparks. A young human nearby is upset that he’d destroy the escalator, but before the confrontation gets too heated he realizes he probably is too high to be seeing reality and offers Briv a brownie. The half orc is happy to take one, suddenly enjoying a feeling of relaxation and calm that he’s never experienced. Penelope is a bit bothered by this unusual attitude, but everyone is distracted by the pile of books Alynrdra has gathered, including detailed tomes called the Monster Manual and the Dungeon Masters Guide. Taking the Monster Manual, Briv wanders into the arcade to show off all the creatures he has killed, and quickly is pulled into a game of Joust.

As Alyndra starts to style her hair to match the '80s aesthetic, Penelope is distracted by the stuffed animals that can be earned by playing games to collect tickets. She’s entranced by the toys, so Briv and Alyndra learn how to play skee-ball so they can make their friend happy. Even affected by the brownies, Briv’s reflexes are still outstanding and he easily throws balls directly into the center slot. Before long there is a pile of tickets that the druid has collected to offer for a stuffed animal. When the owner rattles off the options, Penelope is so excited by the wolf that she wild shapes into a dire wolf herself, causing most people to panic and flee, including the man behind the counter. Using the metal in his body to create a claw, Briv begins to collect the stuffed animals hanging from the ceiling for Penelope to enjoy.

Suddenly the Joust arcade cabinet comes to life, with horrific metal teeth that sink into a nearby gamer and bite his head clean off! Seeing the mimic, Orkira calls for Keen to join them as this looks like it might be the creature they must battle. However the eladrin has joined a breakdance competition, and the dragonborn is suddenly entranced by his dancing. She casts thaumaturgy and produce flame in order to give him a proper light show. Keen has already mastered the moves of Michael Jackson and has formed his own posse of backup dancers (Bennie Shubie, Twister, and Uprock) and he’s happy to employ their bardic hype powers as they move to fight the arcade cabinet mimic. Penelope uses her dire wolf jaws to bite into the mimic, then dodges out of the way of the monster's sticky tongue. Alyndra casts toll the dead, killing it with a brightly colored burst of neon light.

Briv asks Orkira if she can bring the human back to life that the mimic killed, but sadly she cannot fix the decapitation. Noticing a jewelry store nearby Briv suggests they take the diamonds they might need while on other adventures, though the cleric doesn’t think they have enough money. When Alyndra suggests they might be more common and cost less in this world, Orkira is happy to follow Penelope in that direction, but the dragonborn is distracted along the way by a computer game store with teleportation tomes to the fabled Monkey Island. Keen and his posse start playing Dragon’s Lair, and while it takes a lot of extra quarters and help from Briv, the knight is able to save the princess! As he’s celebrating he notices two glowing eyes in the vent above them, and grabbing the lighter offered by Uprock he climbs up to investigate.

Fortunately Keen is safe inside the vent as a fireball suddenly explodes in the arcade! Orkira and Penelope rush over from the video game store, while Alyndra and Briv do their best to dodge most of the damage and stumble outside. Keen worms his way free of the vent and drops down to join his friends, where they find a tall tiefling with only one horn sneering at them that they need to be destroyed so he can rule this world! Alyndra tries and fails to banish the demon, but Keen summons his glaive and uses his new breakdance moves to slice into the tiefling with brutal efficiency. He is hasted by all the sugar he’s consumed and with his extra attacks he almost kills the spellcaster by himself! Briv approaches the one who calls himself Venger, at first asking if the tiefling can take him home, but eventually attacking in confusion with a vicious smite. Venger responds with a hellish rebuke to the half orc, then tries to cast chain lightning but is counterspelled by Alyndra. She pulls out one of the Babysitters Club books she bought and tosses it to Venger, trying to convince him to rethink his life choices, but the demon refuses to go back to Avernus. Rushing up with her flame blade, Penelope strikes directly into his stomach to finish him off, turning Venger back to ash and dust.

The Traveler emerges from the nearby cinema and praises Penelope for defeating the invaders and saving the world. He points to the picture of David Bowie on the movie poster and explains how he took this form because he thought it was a pleasing form that would inspire people to fight on his side. Orkira rebukes that they’re just fans of Penelope, and warns that if the fey creature threatens their friend again she will summon the Phoenix and destroy the entire Mall. The Traveler agrees to teleport them back to Exandria after they’ve had a chance to rest and enjoy the delights of the food court, so the group enjoy a relaxing meal of all the most exotic foods available at the Mall; Hot Pockets, New York style pizza, giant cinnamon rolls, Chinese food, shawarma, both McDonalds and Burger King, KFC, and a box of Tim Hortons Timbits and coffee. Briv searches for more brownies, even using thaumaturgy to amplify his demands, but most people just run away from him.

The group discusses how surprised they are that this world does not have any heroes of their own to fight off monsters. As Orkira pulls out a VHS tape to point to the cover art displaying heroes fighting Venger, Alyndra notices a young gothy kid that reminds her of Avren hanging out at a nearby music store. However he disappears into the crowd before she can approach. Filled with food and ready to return home, Penelope calls on her patron once again. The Traveler appears to thank them all for their services, and warns that they may be called on one more time to return to the Star Court Mall and save the town of Hawkins. 

And somewhere in one of the vents in the Mall a small, slimy creature with a star-shaped gaping maw gives a fearsome roar...

Our Heroes have returned from their strange adventure to another realm, but is the Traveler done demanding assistance? Find out May 13th at 2pm PT on twitch.tv/dndbeyond!


Lauren "Oboe" Urban is the Community Manager for D&D Beyond, as well as a professional classical musician on oboe and English Horn. When she's not playing a Bard in real life she's a prolific Dungeon Master and player on a variety of livestreams and podcasts. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband Luke where they spend their free time playing video games and drinking tea. The best way to keep up with Lauren's busy schedule is to follow her on Twitter @OboeLauren!

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